An Analysis Of Skills Applied In Foreign Affairs Interpreting Under Speech Act Theory

Based on Speech Act Theory,the thesis studies the linguistic data on the press conference held by China’s foreign minister Wang Yi on March 8th in 2017.From a macro perspective,this study aims at figuring out the advantage of the Speech Act Theory in promoting the interpreting for foreign affairs over other widely used interpreting theories and from a micro view,the study focuses on the specific strategies of Speech Act Theory applied that serves as a guide for foreign affairs interpreting.According to the research,compared with any other theories,the Speech Act Theory put forward by Austin in 1950s or 1960s is more suitable to be a tool of studying the interpreting of foreign affairs,especially for press conference.On this occasion,the interpreter should try to figure out the hidden purpose of the speaker from three layers from the perspective of locutionary act,illocutionary act as well as perlocutionary act.After that,the source language should be interpreted into appropriate language for listeners.Through these processes,the quality of the target language is improved unconsciously.Under this framework,our task is to do research on how to make the target language a precise and powerful one with Speech Act Theory.There is no doubt that the press conference held by Wang Yi in 2017 with Sun Ning as his interpreter is a case worth being discussed and is of great value for study.Consequently,research and discussion over the case can not only explore the possibility of combining Speech Act Theory with the interpreting of press conference but also functions as references for English major students,scholars and professional interpreters in term of its practical value.